Do you want to become a faith champion? Start by practicing the fundamentals! Learn the ABCs of faith that will catapult you to victory.

When you watch the Super Bowl or the World Series, you may be admiring the impressive skill of the players and the thrill of competition. But, have you ever thought about what you’re really witnessing?

The winners—the champions—in any sport are simply this—masters of the fundamentals. If you think about it, the game is the same no matter who is playing, whether it’s a Little League game played by 10-year-olds, or the World Series played by professionals in a grand stadium. So, how did the professionals become the best? How did they become champions? Practice, practice and more practice. Then, just when they thought they’d arrived, they practiced some more.

What did they practice? The fundamentals—the basics—of their sport.

This pattern of focusing on the basics—the ABCs—has been a hallmark of the most successful coaches and athletes in every sport. They know one important factor of reaching your goal—focusing on the fundamentals is what determines your results.

That’s how a child first learns to read. You wouldn’t sit down with a child who is first learning to read, hand him a novel, and say, “Read.” No—you start with the beginning—the basics. You start with the ABCs. To become proficient, a child must first learn to identify those letters that will make up words and sentences. It takes time!

That’s the way it is with faith. To become proficient in operating in great faith—to become a champion—you first have to master the fundamentals. As you do this, your healing will come faster, your financial breakthroughs will be quicker and easier, and your time between “amen” and “there it is” will narrow more and more.

You can become a champion of faith when you work to master these ABCs of faith.

A. Believe the Word of God

“Whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.” –Mark 11:24 (NIV)

Whatever the situation—whatever the challenge—FAITH will bring you the victory. And practice will produce the perfect law of liberty in every area of your life! The first, and most important, of the basics of faith is to believe the Word of God. You’ve heard it said again and again that faith begins where the will of God is known.

And faith always comes. There is no such thing as faith that won’t come—just like there’s no such thing as water that won’t boil.But it isn’t enough to just know the Word of God—you need to believe the Word of God. That means, whenever a challenge arises, the first place you go for answers is the Word of God. It can be tempting to just believe what the world says—the doctor says, “There’s no cure for this,” your employer says, “You aren’t qualified for a promotion,” your family says, “All teenagers rebel.”

But faith never stops at the world’s conclusions—it goes over and above them—to the Word of God. That’s your final authority. What others say may be fact, but it isn’t truth! The only truth is in God’s Word. So, believe the Word of God above all else, and you’ll always have success.

How do you get to the place where you believe God’s Word over everything else?

You spend time in the Word every day. You read and meditate on His Word again and again and again. You keep filling your fuel tank until it is so overflowing, you can’t help but operate in faith every day of your life.

What need do you have in your life today? Is it healing? Study the scriptures about healing—meditate on them, confess them every day, speak them out loud, read them over and over, listen to faith-filled teaching about healing. It is this repetition and consistency in your study of the Word on the matter of healing that will finally get it down in your spirit.

Find a list of Healing Scriptures to Speak Daily here.

Kenneth E. Hagin once shared a story about a woman and her daughter who both had polio and couldn’t walk. They required round-the-clock care for their most basic needs. They, along with the woman’s husband, came to a series of healing meetings Brother Hagin was holding. During one of the meetings, the little girl jumped up and ran around the room—completely healed. But her mother stayed in the wheelchair. Why? She still had a mind filled with religious tradition that was keeping her from receiving, while her little girl came without anything but the faith of a child.

When the woman went home, she spent hours every day for months listening to the teachings from those healing meetings. Finally, when her mind was renewed, the truth of healing got down on the inside of her spirit, and she was completely healed! It took her longer because she had more renewing to do!

If that’s where you are today—in healing or anything else—this is a fundamental of faith. You’ve got to believe the Word of God, and you do this with a determination to get your mind renewed.

At the same time, what you’re believing for must be based on the Word of God—it can’t just be whatever you wish you had. Baseless faith is just making something up. Keith Moore once said, “You could just believe it in your heart and say it with your mouth, ‘Brother Keith Moore is going to come mow my yard.’But don’t you get the idea I’m going to come mow your yard.I don’t mow yards.”

That’s why you need to have a good knowledge of the Word of God—it will give basis for your faith. This life of victory is no place for the spiritually lazy—it takes work! But it’s worth every bit of investment.

B. Speak the Word of God “He will have whatever he says.” –Mark 11:23 (NKJV)

Words are a powerful force. You can speak them so freely, it may seem hard to believe. But words are not primarily for communication.Words are primarily for power release. Words created this planet. That’s why what you say and what you don’t say is important.

Learn more about Words: The Start Button to Everything You’re Believing For here.

Jesus modeled this for us when He came across a fig tree that wasn’t bearing fruit. And He said to the tree, “May no one ever eat your fruit again!” (Mark 11:14).

Eight words. And the moment He spoke, the tree was done. Then, He just turned and left. He didn’t wait to see if it worked—He just spoke to the tree and left. The next morning, he wasn’t looking to see if it worked. He was passing by and the disciples pointed out to Him that the tree had withered up from the roots. That’s the force of faith-filled words—they dominate the laws of sin and death.

There is power in your words as a born-again believer. That’s why it isn’t enough to renew your mind in the Word of God if you aren’t going to use it for anything. When a child learns his or her ABCs, the purpose isn’t just knowing them, but putting them to use—turning them into spoken words. The same is true with faith. It won’t do you any good to just know the truth of God’s Word—you’ve got to put it to work!

A word of caution: Your words are one of Satan’s main inroads to your life. If you keep your words in line with the Word of God, Satan is locked out. But if you start cursing yourself in your health, finances, marriage, children—suddenly he’s in and he has big plans to carry out what you’ve spoken.

For example, a renewed mind isn’t going to go around declaring sickness, disease, poverty, lack, strife and unrest. That’s a mind tainted by the world! A renewed mind knows better because it has had revelation of the Word of God.

C. Act on the Word of God

“But be doers of the Word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” –James 1:22 (NKJV)

Are you all talk when it comes to faith? You might say all the right things and believe all the right things, but when the rubber meets the road, as they say, what is it that you do?

James 2:14 says, “Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (NKJV). That means it’s no good—useless. The reality is, if you aren’t acting on your faith, it isn’t real Bible faith at all.But faith in action…now you’re talking about an unstoppable, undefeatable force.

What does it mean to act on the Word of God?

First, it means altering your lifestyle to fit the Word instead of trying to alter the Word to fit your lifestyle. It means whatever you see in the Bible—you endeavor to do it. No matter what. You don’t make excuses, you don’t try to change what it actually says to suit your own fleshly desires. You just do it by faith. You don’t try to do it.You don’t hope to do it.You do it because the Bible commands you to do it.

Second, it means making a move before you see a manifestation in the natural. It means expecting what God has said to come to pass. That means if you believe you receive your healing, you do what you couldn’t before—begin to move part of your body you weren’t able to before, get out of bed and take a step. If you are believing to get out of debt, put feet to your faith and pay even one dollar toward what you owe.

When you act on the Word, faith begins to grow, Satan’s dominion begins to wane, and circumstances begin to yield.When faith increases, it begins to change your attitude and outlook.

Find 3 Things to Do When You Feel Stuck here.

As you act on the Word, you can expect results if you are in obedience to it. If you are acting on the Word where the promises are concerned, without first acting on the Word where the commandment is concerned, then the promises will not come to pass. So, be sure you are in obedience!

Find The Ifs Between You and Your Promise here.

Take a step of faith today and put it into action! If you act on the Word of salvation, then you’ll get saved.If you act on the word of healing, then you’ll get healed.If you act on the laws of prosperity, God will begin to prosper you.If you act on the Word concerning the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, you’ll receive it.If you act on the Word concerning the gifts of the Spirit, they’ll show up, or manifest, in your midst.

Acting on the Word brings the manifestation of the promises of God straight into the midst of your life.

Putting It Together

What happens when you work to master the ABCs of faith? There are so many examples in the Bible of the basics of faith coming together to yield a manifestation. But, if we just look at the woman with the issue of blood in Mark 5:24-34, you can see all three of these ABCs in motion:

A.She believed the Word—she believed what she had heard about Jesus. She had been shut in her home and not allowed to leave, so she had time to meditate on what she was hearing.

B. She spoke words of faith, and said, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.” But she didn’t say it just once. That won’t get it. One translation says, “She kept saying.” Why? Because if she didn’t keep saying it, unbelief may have come in. She could have said, “I can’t do this. Look at me! I’m bleeding! I can’t go out there. I’m too weak. No, I can’t do it. They could stone me for it if I do.” That’s why she had to keep saying it and avoid saying anything contrary.

C. She put it into action. She went out in bold faith, reached out and touched Jesus Christ. And healing power, or as one Bible version says, “virtue,” came straight from Him to her faith, and she was made completely whole—healed.

D. She forgave. The ABCs of faith will only work in a loving, forgiving atmosphere. Imagine this woman. The Bible says she had gone to doctors who had treated her and taken all of her money. Not only was she not better—she was worse! She would have had to forgive those doctors for the damage they had done to her to move forward in faith and receive her healing (Mark 11:25). If you have any unforgiveness, you’ve got to get rid of it. It will keep your faith from operating.

When you practice and master the ABCs of faith—the fundamentals—you are well on your way to becoming a champion of faith! Believe, speak and act on your faith. Remember to always forgive those who have wronged you. Now, get to practicing the ABCs of faith—your victory is waiting for you!